‘Got many mates with polio? I do: Paralympian slams Mundine on anti-vax push

Paralympian Kurt Fearnley has called out Anthony Mundine’s anti-vaccination comments.

Three-time Paralympic gold medallist and two time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Kurt Fearnley called out Anthony Mundine's vaccination stance, asking him does he have any friends with polio. Picture: Justin Kennedy

Paralympian Kurt Fearnley has hit back at Anthony Mundine after the former boxer encouraged people not to vaccinate their kids.

Mundine posted the controversial anti-vaccination rant on Twitter, telling his followers “don’t vaccine (sic) your kids period!”

“The government bully you into vaccine! Do your research on the sh*t,” he wrote. “All I’m saying is research and check what they giving you or ya baby! “When they start mixing it like a cocktail that’s where it’s going wrong!” Mundine was condemned by hundreds on online, including a response by disability advocate Fearnley.

He accused Mundine of promoting apathy over diseases that should be feared. “You got many mates with Polio? I do. A heap. From countries that didn’t have the luxury of vaccinations you peanut,” the paralympic champion wrote.

He said it was “bad faith” for anti-vaxxers to say do your research when medical professionals had already done so.

“So do your research. Consult your GP. Not Dr Google.”

You can’t make this shit up. We’ve became so comfortable that some promote fear in our peace and others promote apathy in what should be feared... You got many mates with Polio? I do. A heap. From countries that didn’t have the luxury of vaccinations you peanut.... https://t.co/yejUujRfoT

— Kurt Fearnley (@kurtfearnley) April 10, 2019

Prominent indigenous activist and academic Marcia Langton also hit back. Professor Langton holds the Foundation Chair in Australian Indigenous Studies at the Melbourne University Faculty of Medicine.

“The science is in. Everyone must be vaccinated. Measles can kill and cause lifetime disabilities,” she wrote.

The comments come a month after a study found no link between autism and the mumps, measles and rubella vaccine.

Anti-vaxxers have long claimed the MMR vaccine can cause autism, but researchers who studied more than half-a-million babies born in Denmark over 11 years found there is absolutely no association in a study released in March. The federal government has launched a national television advertising blitz to counter the misinformation spread by anti-vaccination campaigners. The federal government committed in February an extra $12 million over the next three years to reinforce the health benefits of the nation’s immunisation program.

AAP